Friday, August 10, 2012

Is Donald Trump going to be Mitt Romney's celebrity apprentice?

Statements from Donald Trump have indicated that he has a "very, very major part" in the Republican Convention proceedings. That's all he'll tell us, causing us to guess about his role in the upcoming Convention.

We can make some assumptions that range from highly likely to very suspect and I can't resist the temptation to do just that.

Let's assemble the facts about Donald Trump to determine if these will give us any insight into his possible role.

Donald is rich and certainly belongs to the same wealthy class as Romney. He made his millions mostly in real estate development, having learned from his father who himself was a wealthy real estate developer. He has been active in business and after a short period of failure, worked his way back to being a success. He is also know for his popular reality TV shows, "The Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice."

Donald's political views are very strongly matched to Romney's. He is a Christian. He is pro life. He is against same-sex marriage. He is anti-gun control. He is an advocate for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He is against trade with China. He hates Obama and is still a persistent "birther" believing that President Obama is not a naturalized American citizen.

He was suggested by Michele Bachmann as a Vice Presidential candidate in her run for President this year. Donald himself has on a number of occasions thought about running for President. He definitely has political aspirations.

Could Donald's role in the convention be so very, very important that it may be he is Romney's running mate? Some observers believe that choosing a Vice President from one of the swing states will help Romney win that state's electoral votes. But Donald Trump is known everywhere and not just in the swing states. It's possible that from that observation, Trump could assist Romney in winning all swing states.

Trump has indicated that he is not interested in running for President, but Vice President may be a totally different thing. Were it not for the fact that the Celebrity Apprentice TV show is renewed for the 2012-2013 season, it would seem quite possible.

But then again, maybe "the Donald" is not canceling his show because he is just planning ahead for a possible outcome where Romney doesn't win the election and his show can still go on. In that case, all the secrecy about his Convention role may just be to help his TV shows ratings even more.

If Romney keeps his Vice Presidential decision quiet until Convention day, then my money is on Trump. What do you think?